President Robert Mugabe has brought
into his cabinet a former top civil servant who in 2001 caused a major
diplomatic incident with a threat of violence against Western embassy
staff.

State radio said in a broadcast today the 81-year-old head of
state had named Willard Chiwewe, former permanent secretary - the top civil
servant - in the Foreign Affairs ministry among 10 provincial
governors.

The remaining 30 members of Mugabe's cabinet will be
announced in the next few days. This follows the March 31 parliamentary
election when Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF claimed an overwhelming victory in the
face of serious rigging allegations. Some Zanu-PF legislators were announced
as having received more than the initial total numbers of votes cast for
both government and opposition candidates.

Chiwewe, who was also
responsible for draconian moves against journalists when he headed the
information ministry in the 1990s, caused a diplomatic flurry after ruling
party militants began invading white-owned factories and offices following
the seizure of 5,000 white-owned farms.

When Canadian ambassador James
Wall was roughed up by self-styled "war veterans" at a Canadian aid agency,
Chiwewe issued a statement warning diplomats they would share the same fate
as Mugabe opponents if they associated with them.

In a rare public
disavowal of its northern neighbour, President Thabo Mbeki's government in
South Africa issued a riposte through its ambassador to Zimbabwe, Jeremiah
Ndou, declaring: "The rule of law is fundamental to any civil society" and
"South Africa does not and will never condone the violence."

Mugabe
also announced that he had appointed his former political head of the secret
police, Emmerson Mnangagwa, among 30 nominated members of the 150-seat
parliament.

Mnangagwa, for many years seen as a likely successor to
Mugabe, was speaker of the last parliament 2000-2005. Relegation to the
backbenches would represent a further downgrading for the once feared
political strongman.

Mnangagwa was outmanoeuvred in November for the post
of vice president by Joyce Mujuru, wife of retired army commander Solomon
Mujuru and a member of Mugabe's own Zezuru section of Zimbabwe's majority
Shona tribe.

Mnangagwa is from the southern Karanga section of the Shona.
All those who supported his vice presidential candidacy have been expelled
from positions of influence in the party.

Asked about his
long-deferred retirement plans, Mugabe said on April 2 he would quit "when I
am a century old."

A prominent woman legislator is tipped to take over
the speaker's role which proved crucial to Mugabe in the last
parliament.

The national executive of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change, led by veteran trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai, began
meeting earlier today to decide whether to boycott the swearing-in of
legislators this morning, said party spokesman Maxwell Zimuto.

The
MDC was declared winner in 41 of the 120 elected constituencies but claimed
it would have won up to 94 seats but for blatant malpractice.

With its
nominated legislators, Zanu-PF controls 108 of the parliamentary seats,
giving it the two-thirds majority needed to amend the
constitution.

Zimbabwe has suffered unprecedented economic decline in
recent years, with a crash in farm production, reliance of up to 5 million
Zimbabweans on international food relief, inflation up to 622%, and 70%
unemployment. Mugabe claims economic distress stems from a British
conspiracy and on Sunday ruled out any dialogue with the MDC "until it
renounces and forsakes this treacherous and shameful association with this
enemy country."

AUSTIN, TEXAS - Zimbabwe's dictator Robert Mugabe combines the worst aspects
of cold war and war on terror tyranny. Think of Mr. Mugabe as an
African Slobodan Milosevic. When the cold war closed down, Mr. Milosevic
morphed from Yugoslav communist to Serb fascist. As time passed in southern
Africa, shape-shifting Mugabe adjusted his schtick, moving from
Marx-spouting revolutionary to kleptocratic tribal dictator. Both thugs are
ethnic cleansers and cynical thieves who murder rivals, silence the press,
and brutally intimidate domestic opposition.

There is a major
difference: Milosevic is under arrest, while Mugabe continues to destroy a
once wealthy nation, as he hides behind a slick PR campaign that coopts and
corrupts classic "human rights" themes.

Mugabe can give Milosevic -
and, for that matter, Russia's Vladimir Putin - lessons in rigging
elections. On March 31, Mugabe stole his third election in five years,
making Zimbabwe the world's current leader in charade
democracy.

Mugabe and his thugs tried to steal the last one
quietly. As elections approached, Mugabe began denying foreign reporters
entry visas. He imposed a law that made "unauthorized demonstrations" a
felony punishable by up to 20 years in jail - a law aimed at his democratic
opponents in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). And then there's the
food weapon. Mugabe's government controls Zimbabwe's food supplies.
Cooperate, and you get your loaf of bread. Oppose Mugabe, and food's
denied.

Ah, but those pesky priests who won't shut up. Mugabe has
had to threaten church leaders he deems responsible for "encouraging" street
protests. Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube - a major domestic critic of
Mugabe and his dictatorship - has been a special target.

Ncube
predicted last month's election would be rigged, and Ncube was right. The
"final tally" gave Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front
(ZANU-PF) 78 seats and the MDC 41. There's no question Mugabe committed mass
fraud - and the MDC has refused to accept the results.

Mugabe may
get away with it, breaking the democratic pulse surging through Afghanistan,
Ukraine, Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon, and testing the Bush administration's
"pro-democracy" doctrine. The man is ruthless, and in the past ruthless has
worked. Though Mugabe's ethnic cleansing of the minority Ndebele in the
early 1980s brought extensive criticism, criticism never became
international opposition to his regime. Whenever international outrage
builds, Mugabe trots out two themes that have been political trumps for too
many African tyrants: "combating colonialism" and "fighting racism." This
mantra stymies a fossil segment of the "human rights left" - a crowd that
railed against Milosevic. Mugabe also appears to have another ace in the
hole - South Africa's Thabo Mbeki has not played pro-democracy Poland to the
Zimbabwe democrats' would-be Ukraine. In fact, Mr. Mbeki looks increasingly
weak, ineffectual, and churlish - a man who knows he stands in Nelson
Mandela's shadow and resents it. Mbeki declared Zimbabwe's elections "free
and fair" before the vote. A few commentators conclude this is Mbeki and
Mugabe acting out a senescent form of "freedom fighter" solidarity, and it
may be just that, another mid-20th-century political relic thwarting
21st-century democratic change.

Still, international criticism
is mounting - if Kyrgyzstan can rally for freedom, why not Zimbabwe? What
can be done to support the democrats? Any effective military action or
political-economic sanctions regimen requires South African cooperation, and
Mbeki looks as if he's been bought off.

The priests, however,
haven't been coopted. Pope John Paul II's death has kept Mugabe's electoral
fraud out of the news cycle, but there is a "John Paul" option that could
benefit peaceful change throughout sub-Sahran Africa. The Polish Pope John
Paul inspired Eastern European resistance to communism and inspired billions
with his spiritual and moral leadership. An African pope could do the same
for African democrats.

There are signals that this could happen.
French Cardinal Bernard Panafieu, when asked about electing a "third world"
pope, replied, "Everything is possible."

An African pope would
change the political dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa, and put dictators like
Mugabe under insistent global scrutiny - the first step to putting them all
in jail.

Press release:Demonstration in WashingtonDC 14th and 15th of
April 2005.

Members of the Zimbabwean community in
America,
together with exiled MDC opposition members and US civic groups will converge on
WashingtonDC
this week, to demonstrate against the human rights record of the Zimbabwean
Government.

An organizer of this protest stated, “It is time for Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora to make their voices heard.The
fortunes of the nation now rest on every Zimbabwean in the Diaspora.”

Zimbabwe Action groups an informal organization, comprising civic
organizations and concerned individuals plan to hold overnight vigils at
selected African Consulates and Embassy’s within the
WashingtonDC
area.The vigils are planned for
the 14th of April
2005.Protestors are informed
to gather outside the Zimbabwean Embassy at 6:00
pm EST.“These vigils signal
our discontent at the handling of the Zimbabwean crisis by African Governments,
chief amongst them the South Africans,” adds Mr. Andrew Manyevere one of the
organizers of the demonstration.

Following the overnight vigils, the group will proceed on Friday the
15th, to the US Capitol Building that houses the
US congress in
an effort to encourage the US Congress and Government to proactively engage in
reaching a solution to the crisis.Ralph
Black spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Action group states; “It is evident that the
policy of quiet diplomacy has failed, and the Bush Administration’s support of
this initiative needs to be redirected at reaching a sustainable and practical
approach to resolving the multi layered crisis facing
Zimbabwe.”

Added Mr. Nyandoro “It is expected that hundreds of
Zimbabweans from the across the United States will attend this planned action
among whom are Mr Morgan Scott and Rowley Brucken of Amnesty International, Sean
Dwett and Dr Handel Mlilo, the MDC’s Representative to the United States.

All Zimbabweans in the United
States are encouraged to join in this planned
activity.

Human
beings suffer. They torture one another. They get hurt & get hard.
Nopoem or play or song Can fully right a wrong Inflicted & endured.
Historysays, Don't hope On this side of the grave, But then, once in a
lifetimeThe longed for tidal wave Of justice can rise up And hope &
history rhyme.So hope for a great sea-change On the far side of revenge.
Believe that afarther shore Is reachable from here. Believe in miracles And
cures &healing wells. If there's fire on the mountain And lightning
& storm AndGod speaks from the sky That means someone is hearing The
outcry & thebirthcryOf new life at its term. It means once in a lifetime
That justicecan rise up And hope & history rhyme.

I have been following the "Tesco Saga" with
interest, although I agree witha recent letter from Cyclops (OLF 356)
stating that the average Brit didn'tknow or care where Zimbabwe was let
alone where their food came from, notall of us are that ignorant.

I'm
a Brit living in the North of England and since the original e-mailsgiving
details of Tesco's "reluctance" to name their sources, I haveboycotted our
local supermarket. I now have quite a few friends and familyshopping
elsewhere, who are also disgusted with the situation in Zimbabwe.

It may
be a small gesture but it's a start, certainly more than ourGovernment is
doing.

Some of us do care a great deal. My Dad lived in Salisbury and
Senoiaduring the 50's and loved the country. I wanted to take him back a
fewyears ago but obviously it wasn't safe. We went to the Kruger Park
insteadand I fell in love with Africa and hope to emigrate in the
future.

I'm a psychologist, nurse and counsellor, if anyone needs some
support byway of e-mail then please don't hesitate to contact me (aaanne101@aol.com).

Feelings of despair and disbelief persist a week
after Zimbabwe'selections. I still have a faint pink stain on the sides and
under the nailof the little finger of my left hand. This is a remnant of the
ink whichwas used to mark me as having voted and when I look at the stain
now, I canhardly believe how quickly elation and hope were replaced with
anger andbetrayal as the results were announced. Every day since the
elections thestate have crowed about peace, democracy and political maturity
but theyhave said nothing about 3 million Zimbabweans living outside the
countrywho were not allowed to vote or a tenth of the voters inside the
countrywho were turned away when they got to polling stations on the 31st
March.Every news bulletin begins with a countdown of how many days are
leftbefore the 25th anniversary of independence and democracy in the
countrybut then the reports that follow do not tell of the 257 unarmed women
ofWOZA who were arrested for praying nor why such an act was indicative
of,in their words, "a mature democracy".

In the week that followed
the election result, the huge sense ofdisappointment has been almost too
much to bear. The MDC took many days tofind their voices and when they did
it was to say they had evidence showingmassive electoral fraud and figures
which displayed huge numericaldiscrepancies in more than 30 constituencies.
The government of coursedispute the claims and the bulk of the South African
observers had alreadymade their claims of peace and freedom and so nothing
has changed, we haveheard all this before, been there, done that and got the
T shirt. None ofthis gives ordinary Zimbabweans hope. Neither the outrage of
the MDC northe arrogant crowing of Zanu PF has done a thing to actually help
ordinaryZimbabweans this week. It hasn't put medicines back in hospitals,
kids backin schools, food on our tables or clothes on our backs. In the last
sevendays since the elections the prices of basic goods have increased
bybetween 50 and 100%. Margarine, sugar and cooking oil have disappeared
fromthe shelves and petrol queues have started again.

Across the
country many thousands of people made so many sacrifices thislast fortnight,
giving so much and showing such courage as they worked fordemocracy and now
the feeling of betrayal is palpable. Along with millionsof others, I watched
the funeral of Pope John Paul the second this week andhis life long call to
oppressed people to not be afraid is most apt forZimbabweans struggling to
see hope and light this week.

Just 7 years ago Zimbabwe was accepted as a reasonably democratic
State (weheld elections periodically) and we had a diversified economy that
was thefastest growing in Africa. The nightmare of shortages and
artificialexchange rates were behind us and our tourism industry was booming
with 1,2million visitors.

Today we have the fastest shrinking economy
in the world, life expectancyhas collapsed, our savings are worthless and
the average quality of lifeand life expectancy has declined to all time
lows. Critical indicators suchas child mortality (indicating malnutrition
and poor health services) arethe worst in the world while record numbers of
women die in childbirth anddeaths from malaria, tuberculosis and pneumonia
are at pandemic levels.

Our government is isolated, ostracized and cut
off from all the systems theworld has put in place to try and overcome
poverty in third worldcountries. We are treated as a pariah State and if we
try to join others onState occasions or at global gatherings, we are just an
embarrassment.

There is only one reason for this state of affairs - our
leadership hasfailed us as a people.

In many ways Africa is cursed by
its leaders. They plunder our resources,kill their opponents, subvert their
democracies and flaunt their power andwealth to a bemused and cynical world.
I well recall being in Geneva onbusiness in the mid 80's when the UN was in
session. Curious, I went to thevenue to see the great and powerful arrive.
It was a sobering sight, forthere in the line were a string of luxury cars,
with drivers carrying thediplomats of some of the poorest countries in the
world. They emerged fromtheir cars in their Gucci shoes and Saville Row
suits carrying briefcasesmade from the skins of their vanishing
wildlife.

Then down at the gate of the UN I saw a public bus arrive at
the bus stopand down from the bus stepped the Chinese delegation - led by
theirAmbassador who then walked up the drive to the UN buildings. My
admirationfor them as a people and their leadership - it was the start of
the DengZhou Ping regime, rose to new heights.

I fought the Smith
regime in Zimbabwe for all of its 16 years in power, Ijoined the opposition,
got arrested and detained, was ostracized by thewhite community and breathed
a sigh of relief when we were finally rescuedfrom ourselves by Henry
Kissenger in September 1976. Then I worked throughthe transition from Smith
to Mugabe and worked in the public sector until1987. In the first few years
we were so hopeful. The new leadership wasyoung and dynamic and we were no
longer outcasts. But it was not to lastlong and the first real signs of
trouble came with the killings inMatabeleland in the mid 80's.

Since
then it has been downhill all the way - the ruling elite has throwndemocracy
overboard and in fact rules as a defacto one Party State. Theyhave subverted
all the ideals they fought for during the years from 1949when the first
Nationalist leaders began the struggle. They are starvingtheir people and
destroying a 100 years of development just so they canhold onto the only
thing they value - power. The gap between good and badleadership is not
large. The principles behind good leadership are simpleand easy to follow.
The results of political leaders choosing one or theother are not simple or
easy to follow but the consequences are veryobvious.

The Bible makes
this situation very clear. When God allowed Israel toappoint its own
government He warned them that this new institution wouldtax them and force
them into serfdom. He also said that bad government -that is government,
which did not follow the rules, as laid out in theBible, would lead to
hunger, deprivation, political subjugation andhumiliation. Government that
followed the rules would be "blessed" andtheir people flourish in every
way.

And so it has been in Africa. South Africa, blessed with
remarkableleadership just when they needed it, found it's way through the
postApartheid minefields without significant damage. Botswana, also
blessedwith good leadership became a small, but progressive and
prosperousdemocracy.

The Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea
have all collapsed under badleadership in the past 20 years. All are
potentially rich countries, richin natural resources and in their people.
Ghana, Uganda and Senegal showwhat leadership can do to turn around
disastrous situations. Zimbabwe andthe Ivory Coast demonstrate how quickly a
reasonably progressive State canbe reduced to anarchy and penury. And it is
all about leadership.

When the international community eventually decided
that the Smith regimehad to go, they knew they had to take out Ian Smith.
Kissenger wasdelegated the task and he writes about this operation in his
memoirs.Having forced Smith to accept majority rule, it was only the
management ofthe transition that was left to do before new leadership was
ushered in. Ifthis action had not been taken the leaders of the day - Smith,
Mugabe,Nkomo and Tongogara, would have fought that fight to the finish,
destroyingthe country and its economy in the process.

Today we are
back at the beginning. Mugabe has become Smith. Robbing hispeople of the
freedoms they fought for, destroying his country in adesperate attempt to
hold onto power. Denying the people the mechanismsthey need to effect change
without war and violence.

We are in dangerous territory. The people feel
betrayed, their right tochoose the leadership they want denied, the economy
in crisis and foodshortages reaching critical levels. The options open to
the opposition whoare in the majority, are limited. In this situation surely
it is time torevisit the external intervention option. To force African
leaders todemand that Mugabe convene a conference within Zimbabwe to draft a
newconstitution which will map the way forward and determine how our
leaderswill be selected in future. As in September 1976, such an outcome can
onlybe achieved by the major powers applying their leverage to the
situationand demanding action from regional African leaders.

LAND
ACQUISITION ACT (CHAPTER 20:10) Vesting of land, taking of materials
and exercise of rights over land

NOTICE is hereby given, in terms of
paragraph (iii) of subsection (1) ofsection 8 of the Land Acquisition Act
(Chapter 20:10), that the Presidenthas acquired compulsorily the land
described in the Schedule forresettlement purposes.

J L NKOMO,
Minister of Special Affairs in the Office of the President andCabinet in
Charge of Lands, Land Reform and
Resettlement.

NOTICE is hereby
given, in terms of subsection (1) of section 5 of the LandAcquisition Act
(Chapter 20:10), that the President intends to acquirecompulsorily the land
described in the Schedule for resettlement purposes.

A plan on the land
is available for inspection at the following offices ofthe Ministry of
Special Affairs in the Office of the President and Cabinetin Charge of
Lands, Land Reform and resettlement between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.from Monday to
Friday other than on a public holiday on or before 9th May2005.

Any owner or occupier or
any other person who has an interest and right inthe said land, and who
wishes to object to the proposed compulsoryacquisition, may lodge the same,
in writing, with the Minister of SpecialAffairs in the Office of the
President and Cabinet in Charge of Lands, LandReform and Resettlement,
Private Bag 7779, Causeway, Harare, on or before9th May 2005.

J L
NKOMOMinister of Special Affairs in theOffice of the President and
Cabinet in Charge of Lands,Land Reform and
Resettlement.

FORMER Parliamentary Speaker and ex
Zanu PF secretary for administration Emmerson Mnangagwa has bounced back
into the August House after President Robert Mugabe appointed him as a
non-constituency Member of Parliament alongside others.

President
Mugabe also appointed his vice Joseph Msika, outgoing Cabinet Ministers
Samuel Mumbengegwi (Industry and International Trade), Paul Mangwana (Public
Servie, Labour and Social Welfare), Patrick Chinamasa (Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs) and Amos Midzi (Energy and Power Development) as
constituency legislators.Also appointed were former Deputy Speaker Edna
Madzongwe, central committee member Munacho Mutezo, politburo member
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Titus Maluleke, Abigail Damasane and Camsia Sachiwa in
the same capacity.Indications are that there will not be any major changes
at Cabinet level.Mnangagwa and Midzi lost in Kwekwe and Hatfield
respectively to Blessing Chebundo and Tapiwa Mashakada of the MDC in last
month's parliamentary polls.Mumbengegwi and Mangwana were beaten in Zanu
PF parliamentary primary elections in January to represent the ruling party
in Chivi North and Mhondoro-Ngezi constituencies respectively, while
Chinamasa opted out of the race.Meanwhile, as events surrounding the
nomination of Speaker of Parliament and his or her deputy continue to
unfold, three names have been touted to occupy the post of Deputy Speaker
namely Edna Madzongwe, Mavis Chidzonga and Florence Chideya, while national
chairman John Nkomo was headed for the Speaker's position.If so, the new
development could see Zanu PF women's league boss Oppah Muchinguri and
MP-elect for Mutasa, who had earlier on been tipped for the Deputy Speaker's
post, leaving the race.A political observer said the reason why Nkomo was
certain to land the post of Speaker was that since he was the fourth senior
person in the party after the President and his two vice presidents, then
having a junior person above him would have been anomalous.It is also
given that the deputy speaker would be a woman.Madzongwe is the former
Deputy Speaker, Chidzonga a former MP for Mhondoro while Chideya lost the
Harare Central seat to the MDC's Murisi Zwizwai.Highly placed sources close
to the debates yesterday said consensus was mounting around Nkomo as Speaker
while Chidzonga and Chideya's names were being thrown around as possible
nominees during the course of the day, but late last night Madzongwe was
talk of the show as Deputy Speaker.Madzongwe had earlier on been reportedly
ruled out amid allegations that she had had a hand in the Tsholotsho saga,
which saw six provincial chairpersons being expelled from the party for four
years.It was said that the six, allegedly led by former information minister
Jonathan Moyo, had broken party protocol when they gathered in Matabeleland
North "to discuss the new presidium".The Tsholotsho debacle, which the
ruling party's leadership says was meant to block the nomination and
election of Joyce Mujuru to the post of Vice President last December, so
angered the party's presidium that was left with no choice but to exclude
Moyo from the central committee.Back to Parliament, the touting of Madzongwe
may bear fruit after President Mugabe appointed her a non-constituency MP
yesterday, increasing her chances in terms of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe.Section 39(4) of Zimbabwe's Constitution stipulates that only
Members of Parliament are eligible for election as deputy speaker and
chairperson of a Parliamentary committee.It states: "When Parliament
first meets after any dissolution of Parliament, it shall, as soon as
practicable after the election of the Speaker, elect in accordance with
standing orders a Member of Parliament not being a Vice President, a
Minister or deputy minister, to be the Deputy Speaker and to be chairman
when Parliament is in committee; and whenever the office of the deputy
speaker becomes vacant Parliament shall, as soon as convenient elect another
such member to that office." The Politburo, sources said, was by last night
still consulting on the contentious issue.Other names which had earlier made
rounds in the ruling party's corridors for the post of Speaker were
ex-cabinet minister Dumiso Dabengwa and former Speaker Cyril Ndebele.The 120
elected MPs will be sworn in today by the Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma.
Soon after the swearing-in ceremony, Parliament will elect the Speaker and
the deputy.Zanu PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa yesterday
said the ruling party's candidates for the two posts would be announced
today before the swearing-in ceremony."We will nominate them tomorrow
(today) before the swearing-in ceremony. We will then officially elect them
after the swearing-in ceremony," Mutasa said.Meanwhile, the MDC was in a
dilemma yesterday on whether its 41 members elected to Parliament would
attend today's swearing-in ceremony. The MDC was quoted in the media
recently as contemplating to boycott Parliament protesting the results of
last month's general elections won by Zanu PF. However, sources within the
MDC said the newly elected MPs from the opposition party would attend the
ceremony, but boycott crucial debates on constitutional amendments and
presidential addresses.A problem has arisen within the rank and file of the
opposition party with those who won the polls arguing they had spent a lot
of their own money on the elections while others argued that winning an
election were personal achievements that they would not just let
go.Yesterday, MDC spokesperson who lost the Gwanda seat to the ruling party
Paul Themba Nyathi would not say whether the party's candidates were going
to take oath of office or not.He said: "I don't know. I have no clue. The
leader of the opposition party is the one in a position to answer
that."Neither would Welshman Ncube, the party's secretary general, shed
light on the matter. He referred all questions relating to the matter to
either Nyathi or Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader."I am not in the country
at the moment, talk to Paul Themba Nyathi or Tsvangirai," Ncube
said.Tsvangirai was evasive over the matter when The Daily Mirror reached
him for comment."Chimbomira,- kana nguva yakwana ndichakutaurira (Wait,
we will tell you at the appropriate time)," he said.President Mugabe has
already indicated that his party would not be bothered by the MDC's threats
to boycott Parliament.He was quoted in the State media saying: "We don't
know what the MDC will do.Some of them have said they will boycott. We
don't care what they will do. We will proceed to run the country the normal
way."

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe
yesterday appointed 10 provincial governors and resident ministers who are
expected to be sworn into Zimbabwe's Sixth Parliament today alongside
elected legislators from Zanu PF, the MDC and independent Jonathan
Moyo.As speculated by The Daily Mirror yesterday President Mugabe appointed
four new faces; Ray Kaukonde (Mashonaland East), Willard Chiwewe (Masvingo),
Tinaye Chigudu (Manicaland) and Thokozile Mathuthu (Matabeleland
North).They respectively take over from David Karimanzira - newly appointed
Harare Metropolitan governor, Josaya Hungwe who has fallen on the way side,
retired soldier Mike Nyambuya tipped for a Cabinet post and Obert Mpofu who
was elected MP for Bubi-Umguza constituency.Mpofu has also been tipped
into the new look Cabinet.Governors who retained their posts are Angeline
Masuku (Matabeleland South), Nelson Samkange (Mashonaland West),Ephraim
Masawi (Mashonaland Central), Cain Mathema (Bulawayo) and Cephas Msipa
(Midlands).In a statement, the chief secretary to the President and Cabinet,
Misheck Sibanda said the appointments were done in terms of Section 4 of the
Provincial Councils and AdministratorsAct (Chapter 29:11) and in terms
of paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of Section 38 of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe.

THE concessionary oil deal between
the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) and Tamoil, a Libyan
state-controlled oil giant, has collapsed after the Zimbabwean parastatal
defaulted debt payments exceeding US$60 million incurred under a US$90
million credit facility.Information reaching this newspaper reveals that the
deal - signed in 2001 when President Robert Mugabe approached his Libyan
counterpart Muammar Gadaffi with a begging bowl to bail out his country by
approving oil supplies to Zimbabwe on concessionary terms - is now dead and
buried, as supplies have been discontinued.In the deal - which gave
Zimbabwe a temporary reprieve from the country's worst energy crisis in
history then - Libya allegedly bargained lucrative agricultural concessions
by which Zimbabwe promised to parachute agricultural exports to the
semi-arid, but oil rich North African country.It is also alleged that
Zimbabwe, in the same pact, surrendered substantial rights over state land
to top state functionaries of the member country of the oil cartel, the Oil
Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC)Crippling foreign exchange
shortages, which have teethed again to strike the economy once more in the
form of fuel shortages, a spate of price increases and commodity scarcities
on the goods market, had triggered the barter contract.Trouble started
flickering a year later, in 2002, when Tamoil threatened to pounce on its
debtor's assets to recover the outstanding dues and contracted Roux Italia
of Italy to evaluate Noczim's assets, whose net value was estimated to be
far shy of the debt, principal and interest inclusive.Noczim managing
director Zvinechimwe Churu, last week said the problem with the fresh bout
of energy crisis which descended again on the country last week was linked
to the company's failure to secure enough foreign currency to meet its debt
obligations."If we give fuel supply tenders we should also be able to pay,"
Churu said.He said his company - whose fuel procurement responsibility has
now been limited to state enterprises, government and quasi-government
institutions since the liberalisation of the sector in 2004 which has seen
an influx of new players - has set its sights on IBG of Kuwait, though
Tamoil would remain an option.Economists, however, said the problems
besetting the state-controlled fuel procurer bore the fingerprints of the
government, which they blamed for failing to stabilise the energy sector by
an intercessory allocation of more foreign exchange resources to keep
supplies running."No fuel supplier can ever keep supplying us with fuel if
we are not in a position to pay," an economist said."Rather than hop from
one supplier to the next, the government should re-engage Tamoil on behalf
of Noczim to bargain new debt rescheduling terms," he added.

April 11, 2005An Iron Age archaeological site will
likely form the centerpiece of a cross-border conservation area under
negotiation by three southern African countries.

The proposed
Limpopo-Shashe Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) will link land in
South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.

Roughly 50 percent of the
designated land lies in South Africa. There, the area's main attraction is
Mapungubwe National Park, a 70,000-acre (28,000-hectare) preserve and UNESCO
World Heritage site.

Mapungubwe, which opened in September, takes its
name from a flat-topped hill that anchored Africa's largest and most
powerful kingdom between A.D. 900 and A.D. 1,300.

The archaeological
site contains evidence of a culture with social classes and extensive
trading ties that extended into Arabia and India.

"The establishment of
Mapungubwe as a powerful state, trading through the East African ports with
Arabia and India, was a significant stage in the history of the African
subcontinent," UNESCO wrote in a dedication upon the area's designation as a
World Heritage Site in 2003.

Ancient Culture

First discovered in
1932, the archaeological site provides a remarkably complete record of the
rise and fall of the Iron Age kingdom.

Hannes Eloff, now a retired
professor of archaeology at the University of Pretoria, worked in the area
for many years. He said Mapungubwe was the name local communities gave the
prominent hill where the archaeological site was found.

The word
mapungubwe has several meanings. "The hill of the jackal" is one. Another is
"the smelting place," possibly a reference to gold- and iron-smelting that
occurred there. But the most widely accepted is "place of the stone of
wisdom."

"The local tribespeople regarded it with awe, preferring not to
go near it," Eloff said. "When my students and I went there to do
excavations, we, too, treated it with respect."

"The first thing we
did on our arrival, after pitching our tents, was to climb the steep cliff
to the top to pay our respects. We spoke softly. It was as if we had the old
king sitting before us," he said.

Archaeological remains on top of the
hill provide a clear indication that a royal or similarly influential class
lived there and provide evidence that a class structure existed in early
African society, Eloff said.

Many glass beads were found in the area and
suggest the community had extensive trade with people from the Middle East
and East Asia.

Mapungubwe's most famous artifact is a golden, one-horned
rhinoceros, a species found only in Asia. The object provides further proof
that the Iron Age African community had contact with the
East.

Evidence of an ancient African society with a class structure
similar to Mapungubwe's was found at another set of ruins located about 200
miles (320 kilometers) farther north, in Zimbabwe.

Eloff said
archaeologists believe that the people of Mapungubwe began to migrate north
in the 14th century, for reasons that were possibly economic or climate
related.

Once in Zimbabwe, the ancient people helped construct a new
settlement.

Transfrontier Parks

The proposed Limpopo/Shashe TFCA
would cover about 2,000 square miles (4,872 square kilometers). South
Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe have yet to sign a final agreement to create
the transborder conservation area, and details about its management must
still be resolved.

Johan Verhoef is the South African government
coordinator for the Limpopo/Shashe TFCA Mapungubwe National Park. He noted
the park "contains a high cultural content on a World Heritage significance
level, bringing even more challenges to management, especially regarding the
cultural landscape."

Several existing transfrontier conservation areas
and parks cross international boundaries and are managed as one integrated
unit. But there are differences between TFCAs and
parks.

Transfrontier parks focus primarily on wildlife conservation, and
authorities work to remove all human barriers, so that animals can move
freely.

Transfrontier conservation areas, however can include
national parks, private game reserves, and even areas designated for
hunting. Fences, railroad tracks, major highways, and other barriers may
remain standing and impede animal movement.

These conservation areas,
like the proposed proposed Limpopo-Shashe TFCA, are managed for long-term
sustainable use of natural resources.

The Limpopo-Shashe TFCA may
ultimately encompass the Botswana Northern Tuli Game Reserve, South Africa's
Mapungubwe National Park, land owned by the De Beers international diamond
company, and various private ranches.

This mosaic of private land,
state-owned land, and national parks creates complexities in the
preservation of major cultural landmarks.

Botswana, for instance, would
have to determine how to manage a large elephant population in
Limpopo-Shashe. But the animals could damage lush, adjacent lands in South
Africa if they are allowed free access across the Limpopo River, which
divides the two countries.

In Zimbabwe the proposed conservation area
includes tribal land and two farms that had been part of the country's
chaotic land-redistribution process.

Despite the complex
negotiations, Verhoef, the South African government coordinator, said
negotiations with the communities concerned are progressing.

The "aim
is to sign the memorandum of understanding by mid-2005," he said. "We are
confident that this will happen, setting in motion the process of
establishing the [transfrontier conservation area] as set out in the
[agreement]."

The Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe H.E. S V Mubako
WillHold a Press Conference on Recent Parliamentary Elections

Mon Apr 11, 3:52 PM ET

To: Assignment Desk and Daybook
Editor

Contact: Patty Powers of the National Press Club
202-662-7515

News Advisory:

The ambassador of the Republic
of Zimbabwe in Washington D.C. H.E. S V Mubako invites all interested print
and electronic media organizations to a Press conference on the recent
parliamentary elections held on 31 March 2005.

THE scarce US dollar hit the Z$18 000
mark last week on the black market as the country's official foreign
currency auction system appeared to be struggling harder to normalise the
situation.On the dreaded and unofficial black market the greenback was
fetching Z$18, 000 or above for one US dollar. But on the 16-month old
official auction system, the dollar was only raising Z$6,200 and that only
through the Diaspora rate.Previously on the black market, the rate of
exchange had been about Z$13 500 to one US dollar.With Zimbabwe being a
landlocked country that relies considerably on the export front for a
significant portion of its foreign currency earnings, the performance of the
export sector also provides a barometer of the level of economic
activity.In the case of Zimbabwe, the country's export sector has been on a
life support system for several years now, following the withdrawal of
balance of payments support.Ever since the export community in the
country has been struggling to survive.The majority of December 2004
financial year-ends that were a feature of activity in previous weeks
contained one central theme, that the acute foreign currency shortages and
the current exchange rate system were hurting their operations.One clear
example that points to the severity of the foreign currency situation
remains the overwhelmed auction system.In the first week of April, 5 094
companies applied for various amounts of foreign currency amounting to a
total of US$119 million to oil their business operations.The auction
system only provided a maximum of US$11 000 to the jostling companies, and
of the 5094 companies only 102 accessed the funds. The pattern of the
bidding has been successively creeping up since late last year, with those
companies whose bids are rejected on one auction, making their bid again, so
that the foreign currency requirements accumulate- but in most cases are not
rewarded.In October last year, the belated and largely insignificant
adjustment of the Diaspora floor price to Z$6200 up from about Z $5600 to
the US$ came as little consolation to efforts aimed at wiping out the
informal black market.The informal black market was then going for around
$8300 to the greenback.Analysts said the announcement of a new price cap had
seen the depreciation of the local currency gaining momentum at the official
auction.The black market, mostly thriving at most infamous places like the
Road Port and Africa Unity Square in Harare, where foreign currency changes
hands illegally, has been thriving with most individuals preferring to take
their foreign currency to these markets.The bid by the central bank to
stem the re-emergence of the black market by halting the remittance of
foreign currency from the Diaspora to locals in hard cash, was a result of
recipients withdrawing their hard currency from official money transfer
agencies and diverting it to the unofficial black market where the rates of
return where considerably higher.Even other regional currencies such as the
South African rand have been appreciating against the Zimbabwe
dollar.For instance in February, the rand appreciated against the local
Zimbabwe currency from around $1200 to the rand in January to around $1900
on the unofficial black market.Zimbabwe Financial Holdings (Finhold), in
its last monthly report for the month of March, noted that the huge demand
for the scarce foreign currency on the official market was forcing the local
currency to depreciate."As a result of the continued excess demand of
foreign currency over supply, theZimbabwe dollar depreciated further
againstmajor currencies on the foreign currency auction market during the
month underreview."The Zimbabwe dollar fell by 6 percent, 5
percent,5 percent and 3 percent for the month against the South African
Rand, Botswana Pula, Euro and Great British Pound, respectively. It also
fell by 1 percent against both the Japanese Yen and US dollar during the
month under review," Finhold noted.

A new surge of contraband
sugar into central Mozambique is threatening the Sena Company, the owner of
Mozambique's largest and most modern sugar mill located at Marromeu on the
south bank of the Zambezi River. The artificial official exchange rate for
the Zimbabwe dollar has made it possible for smugglers to buy up sugar in
Zimbabwe, and sell it in Mozambique at a price that undercuts the local
product.

Mozambique's domestic sugar market is supposed to be protected,
and there is a surcharge in place on legal imports of sugar. But the
smugglers have little difficulty in making their way across the extremely
porous border with Zimbabwe. Faced with declining sales domestically, the
Sena Company has little choice but to increase exports of sugar. But the
world market price of sugar is depressed at the moment.

A decent
price is only available for those markets (such as the European Union) where
Mozambique enjoys quota-based access. Outside of that quota system, Marromeu
sugar sells at a loss -- with the current world market price is lower than
the cost of production.

Nonetheless, the Sena Company still hopes to push
its sugar production up from the 2004 figure of 62,000 tonnes a year to
105,000 tonnes by 2008.

CAPE TOWN - The day after last month's election in Zimbabwe, the
Cape Times (of Cape Town) carried a front-page story on the South African
government's new policy to "turn the tide against poverty" by cutting back
on the tax-funded opulence of African National Congress politicians.
President Thabo Mbeki's private jet would be sold and he would in future
travel by South African Airways. There would be no more mansions and
Mercedes limousines for ministers, and no more full-page advertisements in
the newspapers singing the praises of the ANC government. This story
appeared on April 1.

Being naturally gullible and tired after a long
night before, I read it in a dreamlike state, feeling that I had been
transported into a different universe where the ordinary laws of African
politics had broken down. In this strange realm, African leaders put the
welfare of the people ahead of their own vainglory. Then I came to the last
line of the article, designed to make dimwits like me check the date, and
was bumped back to reality.

Part of this reality was the grisly farce of
the Zimbabwean election, the inevitable result and its equally inevitable
endorsement by the South African government. Robert Mugabe must be extremely
grateful to Mbeki, without whose constant support and encouragement the
Zimbabwean President would probably not have been able to sustain his
tyranny.

The ANC screamed against apartheid South Africa and Ian Smith's
Rhodesia, and called for sanctions against both. It denounces what it sees
as crimes of the Israeli government, such as the building of the fence to
shut out Palestinians. But against the mass murder, torture, terror, gang
rape and deliberate starvation of the Zimbabwe people by Mugabe's
dictatorship, neither Mbeki nor any other leading figure of the ANC in his
government has whispered a word of protest. Mbeki's policy of "quiet
diplomacy" toward Zimbabwe has usually consisted of picking up a megaphone
and bellowing the virtues of Mugabe. The ANC's support for Mugabe is
total.

The most frightening question hanging over the future of South
Africa is this. Does the ANC support Mugabe out of political expediency or
because it agrees with his actions? If the latter, will South Africa go the
way of Zimbabwe?

Expediency would be easy to understand. The curse of
black Africans, in Africa and abroad, is their unrequited obsession with the
white man. They have little interest in black people beyond their borders
but enormous interest in white people. If there is an atrocity in an African
country, black people outside that country will not care unless there are
white people concerned, either as instigators or as victims.

When
Mugabe slaughtered 20,000 blacks in southern Zimbabwe in 1983, nobody
outside Zimbabwe, including the ANC, paid it the slightest attention. Nor
did they care when, after 2000, he drove thousands of black farm workers out
of their livelihoods and committed countless atrocities against his black
population. But when he killed a dozen white farmers and pushed others off
their farms, it caused tremendous excitement. Mugabe became a hero in the
eyes of black activists in South Africa, the United States and England. That
he has ruined Zimbabwe, a beautiful and naturally blessed country; that he
has turned it from a food exporter to a hungry food importer; that he has
caused 80% unemployment and 600% inflation; that he has killed tens of
thousands of Africans; that he has crushed democracy; that he has reduced
life expectancy from 55 years in 1980 when he came to power to 33 years
now -- none of this matters compared with his glorious triumph in beating up
a handful of white farmers.

Situated at the bottom of a quiet close about six miles from
central Harare, the bungalow seemed like the perfect place to rent. We'd
already discussed mowing the extensive back lawn (every week), whether we
could keep on the landlady's gardener (yes) and if the home-made desks could
stay in the childrens' rooms (OK).

The thorn bush at the bottom of
the garden was impenetrable, the landlady assured us, and the close was
patrolled by a private security company.

"There's just one thing," she
said. In my mind's eye, I'd already replaced her blue floral printed easy
chairs with my faded third-hand sofa. "We'll have to increase the rent every
three months. With Zimbabwe's current economic situation, prices are going
up every day."

She didn't know how much they'd need to put the rent up
by, but who could blame her? Like so many elderly whites still living in
Zimbabwe, she and her retired husband were downsizing to
survive.

They'd bought into a tiny Catholic church-run property down the
road and wanted to live off the money my husband and I would pay her as
rent. But we have a fixed budget for yearly rentals. So that was another
house that we wouldn't be calling our own.

Renting a house as a
foreigner in Harare used to be a fairly easy matter. For one thing, it was
unbelievably cheap.

Harare: it "hasn't yet reached the crime
standards of Johannesburg, but it's getting that way"

A year and a
half ago, we were paying the equivalent of £5 a month for a one-bedroomed
cottage in a good area. The price included electricity and
water.

Ours wasn't even the best deal. We have friends who were
paying the same amount for a three-bedroomed bungalow plus swimming pool and
landscaped garden in the plush northern suburb of Ballantyne
Park.

But when we started getting folded slips in our mailbox every two
months ("Dear tenant, due to continuing increases in basic services, we have
no option but to increase your rent once again"), the cottage suddenly felt
small and we decided we had to find somewhere else.

We've lost count
of how many places we've toured since then. There are several methods of
house-hunting in Harare, some easier than others.

You can try the
property classifieds in the Herald newspaper. Margaret, a secretary friend,
says this isn't worthwhile.

"There are so many people who phone for those
places," she moans. She says you fix an appointment only to find you're 30th
in the queue.

You can try an estate agent. There are lots of them around.
Every second dispossessed white farmer's wife or unemployed reporter seems
to have metamorphosed into a property consultant.

If you've got money
(or an employer who pays your rent) there's the informal noticeboard at the
International School in Mount Pleasant suburb, near the University of
Zimbabwe.

Diplomat friends of ours (there are still diplomats here
despite threats to clamp down on foreign-funded rights groups) found a
wonderful ancient farmhouse on Avondale Ridge, complete with outhouses,
swimming pool (de rigueur here for expats) and a creeper-covered
walkway.

But you'll be paying in foreign currency and it won't always be
cheap. Our friends pay around £650 a month.

There are other ways of
house-hunting. The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) no longer puts out a
daily situation report on white farm violence in politically-torn Zimbabwe,
but it does email accommodation listings weekly.

Breakaway farming
pressure group Justice For Agriculture (JAG) offers the same
service.

That's how we found Breezy Point in Avondale, a well-established
suburb with cinemas and supermarkets. Breezy Point looked like it had been a
hostel for backpackers. It was one of those colonial-style homes you can
still find here, tucked away in old suburbs like Highlands with
steel-pressed ceilings and wooden floorboards. We loved the place but there
was one big problem: security.

Breezy Point stood exposed on a corner
plot. It had no walls, not even a bamboo fence. Security is a growing
problem in Zimbabwe: the Herald carries at least two reports of armed
burglaries a week. Harare hasn't yet reached the crime standards of
Johannesburg, the violence-weary capital of neighbouring South Africa yet,
but it's getting that way.

We know youngish expats so worried about their
safety that they chose to live in Dandaro, a Brookside-lookalike red-brick
development in the upmarket Borrowdale suburb. It's surrounded by high walls
and uniformed guards monitor every visitor who tries to get in.

We're
hoping not to have to go the Dandaro route. But Breezy Point, with its
hopelessly exposed flanks, wasn't going to make for stress-free
living.

What you really need to find a new place here, I've decided, is a
Joy, an elderly local who'll keep her ear to the ground for you. Joy checks
the church noticeboard for us, knows exactly whose son is leaving but
doesn't want to sell his house and scans through the ads on Mango, the
private email provider.

Joy has been here 50 years and she has all
the contacts. It was thanks to her that in December we thought we'd finally
found what we were looking for.

It was an old white cottage with a red
tin roof, just round the corner from our favourite Indian restaurant, the
Sitar in Newlands. The rent was around the equivalent of £150 a month, a
good deal in the Zimbabwean capital these days.

We were "oohing" and
"aahing" over the burglar-barred verandah and the claw-footed tub when the
soon-to-be ex-tenant, an energetic gym teacher, shattered our hopes. The
water pressure in Newlands suburb is so low that it takes half an hour to
dribble a few centimetres into a bath, she whispered. And there's no
shower.